Downton Abbey: The Risk Of Love

It's Only Spitting

Downton Abbey,
May 1920

"You're awfully cheery this morning, Cousin Matthew." Mary noted to the man who sat humming to himself by the breakfast table and reading the newspaper. "You have seemed awfully cheery since the servants' ball in fact."

Matthew glanced at Mary from his newspaper and gave her a smile. "It does wonders for the body, to be happy — I strongly recommend it."

Mary rolled her eyes. She had not forgotten what she had overheard in the dark corner a month ago, nor had she forgotten what Mrs Crawley had told her about Thomas and Matthew the other day. She knew that Matthew did deserve happiness, after everything that had happened to him, but she would not let it go — especially now that she knew that Thomas would have needed to do quite a lot for Matthew and seen certain things. Which made it more curious — why would Matthew let a man bent like Thomas care for him like that? Apparently Isobel did not think, nor know, if there was something more to it. One thing, however, was clear to Mary; she knew this was not a normal servant-employer friendship between two men — she just did not know the extent of it yet.

"So what will you do, on a merry day like this?" She asked her cousin and brought her cup of tea to her lips.

"Perhaps I will wander, perhaps I will go see how the tenants are doing." Matthew shrugged and turned the page of his newspaper "Maybe I will take to my room and work."

"Alone?" Mary then blurted out which caused Matthew to give her a stare in confusion.

"I usually tend to work in my room alone, but you're more than welcome to walk with me to the tenants if that would interest you." Matthew said, thinking that it clearly would not interest her at all — but he was wrong.

"I might just take you up on that offer, Cousin Matthew." Mary said right as Robert walked in.

"Morning papà." She said and her father leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.

"Morning, Cousin Robert." Matthew said but didn't look up from his magazine. There was still some tension between the two of them because of the push-backs for the estate that were still going on. "Well — " Matthew said and folded the paper in half and stood up " — I shall get my work started for the day, Mary, I will call upon you if I take the walk to the tenants." He said and bid the two Crawleys' bye for the time being.

"Walk to the tenants? What is this about, Mary?" Robert said with disapproval.

"He invited me, and perhaps I need to take more of an interest in the estate, you never know what will happen." Mary said with a little smile but Robert muttered 'absurd' under his breath and took the newspaper Matthew had been reading.

"Mr Barrow." Jimmy called out after the valet as he passed him in the entrance hall by the grand staircase.

"Yes, James?" Thomas said and stopped in his steps.

"How I hate that Mr Carson is forcing that to be my name." The new footman said with a scowl.

"Well, Jimmy, what Carson doesn't hear won't harm his ears" Thomas said with a smile "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Mr Carson asked me to wind up the clocks — " Jimmy said anxiously " — and I did what you showed me, I tried turning it both ways but nothing happened."

"You should consider yourself lucky, that means you're doing well — Alfred hasn't been asked to do that yet, has he?" Thomas walked over to the footman and took the key from his hands.

"No, he hasn't asked that oaf to do anything yet." Jimmy said with a snort "I take it that means I'm on my way to being first footman?"

"Easy there lad — " Thomas said " — don't count your chickens before they hatch, but I'll be well chuffed if you get the position rather than O'Brien's nephew."